Josh and Conan Silveira (Credit: PFL)
Josh Silveira and Conan Silveira: The balance of a Father and Son bond, driven to succeed as Fighter and Coach
Josh Silveira was quite literally born to be a fighter. The son of legendary Coach out of American Top Team, Conan Silveira, the two have embodied what it means to be a fighter. Learning from his father through both his fight career and his life, Josh has taken his career to new heights since becoming part of the PFL roster, where he made it to the 2023 Light Heavyweight Championship.
Although he did not achieve gold in the end, he’s back in 2024 and with six points to his name after the first round, he’s right back in position to earn a playoff spot in the second round of the 2024 Light Heavyweight tournament.
Speaking to the media ahead of his fight against Rob Wilkinson, Silveira spoke about embracing the toughest challenges ahead of him and what it means to have his Father alongside him. With his Father’s legendary coaching pedigree with him, Josh Silveira said it was even more enjoyable to have his Dad join him in Salt Lake City starting on Father’s Day, the official start of fight week for him.
“I loved that it’s Father Day but it was also the start of fight week, it just blends well with my Pops being around. It’s nice to have him here. I got here [Utah] June 4th, I had my team with me, we’re working, but as soon as I saw him when I walked into the hotel it was like this sense of ‘F**k man, I love this guy so much.’ I’m so happy he’s part of this journey with me.”
Even with his younger brother’s birthday falling on fight week, there was nothing but focus on the task at hand from both fighter and coach, Father and son.
“Just understanding what my Dad’s mentality is with this. I’m 31 years old, he has a little boy he has to take care of, but he’s still is there behind me, by my side as a grown man. There’s no words to describe the love I got for that guy.”
The love between the two is undeniable and their bond, inseparable as both family and fighter and coach, Conan Silveira opened up on how he is able to separate both roles that he holds. In an interview with MyMMANews.com, Conan Silveira discussed what it’s like to coach his Josh and what he has to do on fight night to separate himself.
“One thing I tell people and I don’t know any other way to say it, when I’m sitting in Josh’s corner I tell Dad to be quiet. I say ‘Shut up, be quiet, put your shit together, hold your emotions, let me work. When I’m finished, he’s all yours.’ Pretty much that’s the best way I can describe it. When I’m cornering Josh he needs me as a coach, he doesn’t need me as a Dad.
He needs me to see the things that he’s not seeing, send him the message and instructions that he needs to have. At the end of the day, he’s my kid, the love is above everything but that 15 minutes, that 25 minutes, I know how to manage it, I know how to be on the Coach side and tell the Dad side, ‘Calm down, zip it, let me do my thing’ After that, Dad comes out.”
As he has grown inside the cage as a fighter, one determined to not only get back to the PFL Championships, but to have the belt around his waist, Josh Silveira said he doesn’t want everything about him to be defined as a fighter. Finding himself more as a man outside of fighting is something that his Father attributes to his growth in maturity.
“That is because he has become more mature. One thing about Joshua, ever since he was a little baby that he could understand was ‘Josh, in life, it’s not about losing, life is about winning.’ The only time you lose is when you didn’t learn from not winning, that’s when you’re a loser. Even when you don’t win anything and you have to say that person was better than me, there’s still a lot to learn from that moment.
One thing that Josh learned from last season when he got to the Finals and lost, it’s not that he lost, it’s that he didn’t win but he learned from that. The learning process came right after. So when he says that and I 1000% agree with him, you have to understand yourself. The beauty about everything that you do is to understand who you are.”
Entering the second round of the 2024 PFL season, Josh Silveira has learned his lessons from previous experiences which have led him to become a more complete version of himself as a fighter and a man. That growth not just as a fighter, but as a person, is what makes his Father, Conan Silveira, the most proud of him.
They may be connected by the sport they both love, bonded by the blood they share, but both have found their own way of making the most of the roles they have both together and individually.
